And he went out and followed him. He didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he saw a vision.
Parallel translations
- KJV And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
- BSB So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision.
- NKJV So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
- NASB And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
- NLT So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Peter follows the angel but cannot tell whether it is real or a vision. The miracle is so unexpected that even the one being rescued is slow to grasp it.
Overview
The deliverance comes in answer to the church's earnest prayer (12:5), yet Peter himself walks out half-believing. His confusion underscores that the rescue is wholly God's doing, not something Peter engineered. Scripture is honest about the gap between God's saving acts and our slow apprehension of them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 126:1A Song of Ascents. When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream.
- Heb 11:8By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
- Gen 45:26They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them.
- Acts 10:3At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
- Acts 26:19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
- Acts 9:10Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”
- John 2:5His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
- Acts 10:17Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate,
- 2 Cor 12:1–3It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. For I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
- Acts 11:5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision: a certain container descending, like it was a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners. It came as far as me.
- Gen 6:22Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 12:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.